[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21054442/]Woman arrested at airport later found deadPassenger angered by missed flight may have choked on handcuffs[/url]

A woman late to her plane became irate, was put in handcuffs and was later found dead in a holding cell, police said. Authorities were investigating Saturday if the woman choked herself while trying to get free from the handcuffs.

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

I'm interested in why she was so angry and behaving in a way that was bound to get her in trouble. Anybody who has flown in the US especially since 9/11, is usually prepared for delays and/or accepts the responsibility of the consequences of being late. I sat in a Houston airport in April for three hours on a flight that was late coming in from Florida. Another time, the shuttle that was to take us out to our plane kept being called back to the gate...back and forth...back and forth. Most people stayed on their cell phones, communicating with their business contacts or families. Nobody got angry or upset...most joked about it.

Weird...

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"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

PHOENIX - A woman who died after being handcuffed and detained at the Phoenix airport was on her way to an alcohol rehabilitation program in Tucson, her family said Monday, accusing police of manhandling her during the ordeal.

But Manning says that the family suspects that Gotbaum died of “positional asphyxia,” which may have been caused by the chain alone or in combination with compression of the diaphragm, which may have begun when the police wrestled her to the floor during the initial encounter on the concourse. Positional asphyxia happens when body position compromises the ability to breathe and can be brought on by factors as disparate as police restraint, drug or alcohol intake, obesity and psychosis.

Greenlaw, who witnessed the arrest, reports that the police "gently took [Carol] to the floor" -- which squares with another eyewitness account that Carol was "tackled," rather than sagging of her own volition. While she was being swarmed by armed men who wanted to yank her arms behind her back and cuff her wrists, Carol -- according to Greenlaw -- was screaming: "I'm not a terrorist, I'm a f*****g American!"

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Dealing with a situation of this sort requires patience, discretion, and individual initiative. Police officers a generation ago could have handled this matter in a more suitable fashion; there are, no doubt, many veteran police officers around today who could have done so as well. But the traits listed above have no place in the Homeland Security apparatus that now controls our police.

Airport Victim May Have Been Given AlcoholPhoenix Police Report Reveals Details About Woman Who Died In Police Custody
PHOENIX, Nov. 1, 2007

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(CBS/AP) There are graphic new details of Carol Gotbaum's last hours at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, revealed in the newly-released, 250-page police report. . . .

Gotbaum, who was trying to get to a substance abuse clinic in Tucson to treat her alcoholism, had missed her flight by one minute, and was told she couldn't board.

The report reveals in more detail what apparently caused her to begin yelling: another passenger offered her his ticket, but Gotbaum was told the ticket couldn't be transferred, that it was a security breach. . . .

Officers say Gotbaum smelled of alcohol, and in the report a U.S. Airways flight attendant tells police Gotbaum was served a Bloody Mary on the flight from New York to Phoenix.

However, a passenger told authorities she didn't see Gotbaum drink alcohol.

The autopsy report has yet to be released, "pending laboratory results."

An aside to this story—it was revealed that several local police agencies have sent personnel to be trained by that soul of discretion company—Blackwater. The mindset of this red state just gets weirder and weirder.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

The autopsy report has yet to be released, "pending laboratory results."

Autopsy Released on Airport Mom's DeathAPPosted: 2007-11-09 14:50:50

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PHOENIX (Nov. 9) - A woman who died in police custody during an airport layover was intoxicated and accidentally strangled herself, an autopsy released Friday concludes.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office said Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, of New York, was acutely intoxicated on alcohol and prescription drugs when she died in a police holding room at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Sept. 28. . . .

A private autopsy paid for by her family has not been completed. Gotbaum's family have accused police of mistreating her.